With November’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever out in the world, we have seen the official end of ‘Phase IV’ of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is the first phase to have television as a key component, but we will be focusing on that in a later Reader Poll. So let’s talk about the films: of the seven films that were released between 2021 and 2022 as part of Phase IV, which is your favorite?
This is a bit of an odd phase, thematically, as there were a few firsts, coupled with some films that had to do a lot of heavy lifting for off-screen reasons. And so, while Black Widow filled in some bits of backstory and helped push the upcoming Thunderbolts along, The Eternals brought an entirely new presence to the screen, and sort of left it without a natural corner of the MCU. Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness both set the stage for the overarching Multiverse Saga, of which this Phase is subtitled, while Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings were about building new cornerstones for the MCU.
And then there was Thor: Love and Thunder. Aside from closing Jane Foster’s story, I’m not really sure how that fits in the MCU, and certainly not in Phase IV.
But we’re not here to tell you what to think of these movies! We want you to tell us what you think of them. So, vote in our Reader Poll, and check back for the results on Monday!
